Art
cevans | February 23, 2010
I made this compilation of so-called "hyperspace" scenes from science-fiction movies last year with my friend, the artist and businessman Mike Merrill. Although the film was initially meant to be a catalog of these scenes, the finished product has an ambient, meditative effect that speaks to the power of the very idea of the hyperspace.
The hyperspace (or, in the case of Star Trek, "warp speed") is an enduring concept in science fiction, seemingly because it provides a panacea for all conflict. Romulans hot on your tail? Human understanding reaching its limits? Unsurmountable distances to…
sciencepunk | February 23, 2010For my birthday I was given a vintage Super Baldina camera. A German model first manufactured in 1938, it has a coupled rangefinder and pop-out lens. At the time it cost an impressive $58 dollars, around $900 in today's money. Wow! It's very pretty.
My flatmate picked it up in an antiques store for £25. That's about £25 in today's money. When I opened it to put in some film, however, I discovered a secret surprise! There was a roll of film already in the camera! Winding it up, I realised that near enough the whole film had been exposed. What could possibly be on there?
The film is…
cagapakis | February 19, 2010Here's my first little editing project for my documentary film class. A day in the lab, but much much faster paced.
sciencepunk | February 19, 2010Researchers at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign have developed a way to compare aromas visually using specially developed inks.
Kenneth Suslick and his colleagues used tiny squares of polymer film that hold 36 drops of carefully designed dyes. These pigments change colour when exposed to various chemicals. The result is a cheap system for detecting very low concentrations of gaseous compounds. The cards can be used like a physicist's radiation dose badge to alert lab workers when they have been exposed to toxic gases.
As shown above, the cards can be used to give each…
sciencepunk | February 17, 2010Flickr user robherr created this fantastic image, summing up life, death, beauty, youth, age and decay in a handful of leaves.
grrlscientist | February 15, 2010tags: Downfall, Even Hitler Made a Hitler Parody, internet meme, technology, Hitler, satire, parody, humor, comedy, fucking hilarious, streaming video
If you've been following the Hitler Parodies video meme on YouTube (197 unique videos so far!), then you'll appreciate this amusing parody where Hitler himself tries to jump on the bandwagon.
(I am standing in a restaurant in Germany, viewing this video and the waitress just looked over my shoulder .. GAH! I hope this isn't illegal here!)
cagapakis | February 15, 2010The future potential of synthetic biology is usually discussed in terms of applications in fields like medicine, food science, and the environment. Genetically engineered life forms are being designed to make medicines cheaply, to target tumor cells, to make more nutritious food, or to make agricultural plants that are easier to grow with less of an environmental impact, to clean up pollution or produce sustainable biofuels. What if synthetic biology systems were instead designed for use in culture or entertainment?
David Benqué, a student in the Design Interactions program at the Royal…
grrlscientist | February 14, 2010tags: nerds, valentine's day, comedy, funny, humor, parody, offbeat, music video, education, streaming video
I did what this guy suggests and went one further: I married a nerd (but not on VD).
It's kinda hard being a nerd on Valentine's Day.
Cause Statistically ladies don't feel the same way.
So i say to all the girls,
From the nerds across the world.
Hug a nerd on Valentines Day.
Oh it only takes me one minute so solve a rubix cube.
But when it comes to the ladies I'm a really big noob.
So i say to all the girls,
from the nerds across the world.
Hug a nerd on Valentine's Day.
Spoken: YOU…
grrlscientist | February 13, 2010tags: Look Around You: Ghosts!, supernatural, documentary, science, BBC, satire, parody, humor, comedy, fucking hilarious, streaming video
Ghosts is part of the hilarious British comedy "Look Around You", series. The episodes are a satire/homage of 1970s and early 1980s educational videos and schools programs, with a different scientific subject being discussed in each episode, or "modules" as they are referred to in the series.
grrlscientist | February 12, 2010tags: Beaker's Ballad, humor, funny, silly, weird, Beaker, The Muppets, streaming video
I can't help it, I've been bitten by the Beaker Bug! Besides, I need some silliness in my life right now since I've been suffering from wacky brain chemistry this week and I am faced with a weekend where I have to spend a large portion of time unpacking boxes. So you'll just have to suffer alongside me and watch this video;
grrlscientist | February 11, 2010tags: art, sculpture, paintings, science, nature, Tom Shannon, TEDTalks, streaming video
John Hockenberry visits artist Tom Shannon in his Manhattan studio for an intimate look at his science-inspired art. An eye-opening, personal conversation reveals how nature's forces -- and the onset of Parkinson's tremors -- interact in his life and craft.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe…
grrlscientist | February 10, 2010tags: CATalunia Boy's Choir, classical music, humor, funny, strange,cat sounds, music video, streaming video
This amusing video should go into the "what did we do before YouTube?" category. This video captures the CATalunia Boy's Choir singing classical music with feline vocals .. it's a 'must view' for all cat owners and cat fans!
grrlscientist | February 9, 2010tags: x-ray art, photography, nature, Nick+Veasey, TEDTalks, streaming video
Nick Veasey shows outsized X-ray images that reveal the otherworldly inner workings of familiar objects -- from the geometry of a wildflower to the anatomy of a Boeing 747. Producing these photos is dangerous and painstaking, but the reward is a superpower: looking at what the human eye can't see.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al…
sciencepunk | February 9, 2010Looking every bit like the mythical Silver Power Ranger, the guy in this video is bestowed with similarly impressive powers - the ability to shoot lightning from his hands!
So what's really happening here? The lightning is actually being generated by the huge Tesla coil in the background, and flowing through the figure into a ground point near the camera. The chain mail suit protects the guy as the electricity flows around him rather than through him.
The video was shot in Austin, Texas, as part of a documentary for German television. Producer Johannes Wiebus says:
A guy in a chain mail…
sciencepunk | February 9, 2010Artist Kevin Van Aelt makes lots of biology-inspired art, including this delicious-looking chromosome chart made out of jelly worms. NOM NOM NOM!
Via Serious Eats
cagapakis | February 5, 2010Synthetic biology is still a new field, and victories are small and incremental. Much of the promise and peril of synthetic biology still lies in the future: genetic devices made to order, computer aided genome design, organisms specially constructed for specific industrial purposes. Will we use this biological technology for good--new more affordable and accessible drugs, better vaccines to emerging diseases, and clean energy--or evil--new deadly pathogens and immortal super soldiers? I think it's safe to say that almost everyone hopes that we'll get all of the good stuff without any of the…
ddobbs | February 5, 2010By Alex Rowan. This is lovely.
Do the full screen, HD if you've got it.
The Third & The Seventh from Alex Roman on Vimeo.
bioephemera | February 1, 2010Matthew Albanese makes miniature dioramas out of everyday materials and photographs them, producing Uncanny Valley landscapes that seem almost, but not quite, real. His Paprika Mars, above, is made of 12 pounds of charcoal and spices (paprika, cinnamon, nutmeg, chili powder). Fields, After the Storm, below, is mostly faux fur and cotton.
Albanese's scenes are convincing precisely because they're so paradigmatic - the standard desolate planetary surface, Western grassland, etc. His work exploits our cognitive tendencies to interpret stimuli against the backdrop of our experience, especially…
cagapakis | January 29, 2010The music from the Darwin Electro-Opera I mentioned a while back is now available for free, streaming on Pitchfork!
(via Nick)
cagapakis | January 27, 2010I sort of love the "KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON" posters that have become the darling of interior decorating bloggers and graphic design jokesters alike in the past few years. I even have one of the posters hanging in my apartment. Then I saw Merlin's version.
At first I LOLed, and then I was like "huh." How did we get here? How did this meme evolve from stoic World War II propaganda to hilarious Richard Dawkins jokes?
And thus, the phylogenetic tree of "KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON" posters was born:
High res here.